Fleet Admiral's Office, Marine Headquarters.
Bang!
Kong slammed his fist into the desk, shattering it into splinters that scattered across the room.
"Daren, you bastard!! I told you to boost morale—not to ignite a damn war!"
He roared, chest heaving as he glared at the Vice Admiral calmly lounging on the sofa across from him, puffing on a cigar like nothing had happened.
The fury in his voice shook the ceiling of the Fleet Admiral's office. Bits of plaster rained down from the walls.
Sengoku stood silently nearby, not even daring to breathe.
Garp sat across from Daren, happily crunching on senbei.
Zephyr had one hand over his face in silent anguish.
Tsuru's expression was unreadable, tinged with complicated emotion.
Sakazuki stood expressionless.
In the corner, Borsalino's lips curled into a faint, amused smile.
Kuzan stood behind Garp, eyes sparkling as he watched the scene unfold.
Only an hour had passed since the graduation and award ceremony for the Officer Training Camp, but that was enough time for Vice Admiral Rogers Daren's fiery speech to send shockwaves through the entire headquarters.
Tensions were boiling. Dozens of officers had already submitted requests to be stationed at the G5 branch in the New World.
Before Kong even had time to sort through the fallout, he had slapped on a stiff smile to congratulate Daren at the ceremony, then stormed back to his office and immediately convened this emergency meeting.
Now, he was furious.
"Daren, aren't you going to explain yourself?!"
Seeing Daren still sitting there calmly, leisurely smoking his cigar, Kong gritted his teeth so hard they nearly cracked.
"What exactly are you trying to do!?"
Daren looked up as if genuinely caught off guard.
"Fleet Admiral Kong, sir," he said innocently, "wasn't I just carrying out the task assigned to me?"
He spoke with an air of righteous conviction.
"Delivering a speech to lift the morale of our Marines, injecting some much-needed passion and strength into our troops..."
Then, without skipping a beat, he added, matter-of-factly,
"You tell me—did it work or not?"
"..." Sengoku's mouth twitched.
"..." Zephyr looked away, grimacing.
"..." Tsuru let out a long, quiet sigh.
Borsalino's smirk grew just a little wider.
Kong's face turned from red to purple.
He could feel the decades of self-discipline and calm he'd cultivated about to snap.
He clenched his jaw and hissed,
"Daren, you know the state of Marine Headquarters—short on funds, heavy losses. What we need now is rest and recovery!"
"Don't tell me you don't understand that!"
Daren nodded seriously, his tone earnest.
"I absolutely agree with Fleet Admiral Kong's farsighted judgment."
Kong nearly spat blood on the spot.
Agree? Then why the hell did you whip the entire Marine force into a frenzy!?
He wasn't buying it. Not for a second.
Knowing this little punk, Daren wasn't suddenly overflowing with "justice."
He was deliberately stoking the Marines' anger and hatred toward pirates, manipulating the crowd, and setting the stage for war.
But what Kong couldn't figure out was—
Why was Daren so desperate to start one?
"The current state of Marine Headquarters does call for rest and recovery—and I fully agree with that."
Daren smiled as he spoke.
"But that doesn't mean that during this period, we Marines should just retreat into a corner and remain on the defensive."
At those words, Kong, Sengoku, and several other senior officers all furrowed their brows.
"What do you mean by that?"
Sengoku raised his head, his eyes narrowing as he stared at Daren.
Even Garp paused mid-bite, his senbei momentarily forgotten.
Daren exhaled a slow puff of smoke, curling like a dragon into the air, then smiled.
"The Battle of Marineford was, without a doubt, a tremendous failure—and a disgrace to the Marines. I think everyone here would agree with that, wouldn't you?"
Kong opened his mouth, but in the end, said nothing.
The others remained silent as well.
None of them could refute Daren's statement.
No matter how much the Marine PR division tried to glorify the courage and sacrifice of the soldiers, it couldn't change the brutal reality.
Yes, the defense of Marineford might have been a valiant stand.
But in terms of the broader impact—it was no victory.
The Marines, proud standard-bearers of justice tasked with eliminating evil, were attacked right at their doorstep by just a few pirates. Had Daren not intervened at the last minute to turn the tide, Marineford itself might've been reduced to rubble at the bottom of the sea.
If that wasn't disgraceful, what was?
Seeing their expressions, Daren's smile deepened. His voice was steady, even relaxed.
"We can fool ourselves all we want—but not everyone out there is a fool."
"The Battle of Marineford didn't show the world our strength. It exposed our weakness."
"The war's over. Time can't be reversed. The three Great Pirates who invaded us? They're long gone—we can't change that."
He flicked the ash from his cigar and slowly stood, his expression sharp and rebellious.
"Right now, the Marines' reputation, status, and authority across the world... have plummeted."
"If we continue to 'rest and recover' after suffering such a humiliating blow, all the powers of the world—all the pirates—will come to the same conclusion: 'They let pirates storm their headquarters and didn't even strike back. The Marines aren't so scary after all.'"
The silence in the office grew heavier.
Daren's cold eyes swept across every face in the room. His voice turned razor-sharp.
"If we don't act now, rebuilding the dignity and glory of the Marines will become nearly impossible."
"If we don't act now…"
"The pirates will look down on us!"
"The World Government will look down on us!"
"The member nations will look down on us!"
"Hundreds of millions of people around the world will look down on us!"
"Even our own lower-ranked Marines... will look down on us!"
Each word hit like a thunderclap.
Expressions across the room shifted.
Then, after a brief silence, a grim, hoarse voice cut through the air.
"I agree with Daren's assessment."
Sakazuki lifted his head. His eyes, cold and unflinching beneath the brim of his cap, locked onto Kong's.
"Only pirate blood can wash away the shame of that battle."
"There's no other way."
Kong's brow twitched.
He turned to look at Sakazuki—who met his gaze head-on.
Then he glanced at Borsalino.
Borsalino grinned, eyes narrowing as he chimed in,
"I'm with Daren too."
As for Kuzan, Kong didn't even bother checking. The look on the kid's face said it all—he was practically sparkling.
These damn brats...
Kong and Sengoku both had the same thought at the same time: They've grown up... but is that a good thing or a bad thing?
Still...
"So, Daren—what exactly are you planning to do?"
Sengoku asked, his voice low and serious.